The presente essay departs from a critical appraisal of what is, or would be, the "organized crime" to develop and contextualize the professional trajectory of a hypothetical young police officer, showing an ethnographic perception of the "frail frontiers" that separate police convenience, coexistence and connivance with illicit activities. It follows the lead provided by a common saying of Rio de Janeiro police officers - "the police have many bosses" - in order to criticize, palliate, explain or justify their "connection" or "involvement" with a wide variety of interests, including some that are associated with the so-called "organized crime". It also mentions the elements of a diagnosis of police "clientelization", which contextualize and shape the conditions of the possibility of using the police mandate for private purposes and its implications.
Police power; Police mandate; Clientelism; Organized crime; Corruption
